Sourei Clan
The Sourei clan is loyal to Kirigakure no Sato and is known for their kekkei genkai, Mitsudo Soujuu, otherwise known as Density Manipulation. As the name suggests the clan can manipulate the density of their own bodies, either making the bonds that hold matter together stronger or weaker. Ideology In general, the Sourei tend to value a single matter far more than most others. Apart from the well being of the clan, or rather, ensuring the clan continues to exist as a major power within Kirigakure; the Sourei place their value in the phrase "the end justifies the means." Originally and still most often this is applied to their business ventures, with the Sourei running dozens of shops around Kirigakure no Sato, owning several farms through out the Water Country, operating a fishery and most of all, operating a large cargo shipping network with most of the supplies to leave and enter Mizu no Kuni going through their ports. With this creed pushed into most members, it is not hard to see why many of the clan members run less than legitimate businesses in Kirigakure and more often throughout the entirety of Mizu no Kuni. While before the civil war, these acts were kept extremely discreet, since then they have been able to expand their operations and influence a fair degree through a mixture of opportunity, insider information (due to shinobi clan members) and their abilities. Clan History Like many of the other clans that helped to found Kirigakure no Sato, the Sourei started off as a group of families related to each other in some way or another. However, rather than being pulled together by love; the clan found themselves brought together for protection and for profit. The family had many shinobi and more importantly a fair amount of them were born with the unique ability to control the density of objects as well as their own density. It was this ability that allowed the Sourei, even at that time to become some of the most sly of thieves and a strong candidate for the title of best assassins. Essentially the at this point of time the Sourei used a mixture of stealth and brute force to ensure control over their island and much of the sea. Still even with abilities like these the Sourei would not always be able to stand on their own. In years to come they were approached by the Daimyo of Mizu no Kuni, who wanted them to be part of a shinobi village he had decided to fund. While it is possibly the Sourei may have been able to turn him down and keep their independence, they could not help, but to see the possible profit involved with being part of the village. So, they joined the coalition of clans that would comprise the founding members of Kirigakure no Sato, donating the Nuibari to the village as a sign of good will. All in all the Sourei held no grudges with any of the clans joining the village, and actually found a friend in the Waruichi who were of a like mind when it came to business. Before long the two clans became quite close, with the Sourei shipping the Waruichi's silk from their various ports around the country; at least that was the main reason on the surface. In truth, the Waruichi and Sourei had a greater partnership in their less than legal activities. From the world abroad the Sourei clan utilized a few non shinobi clan members with the abilities to break into mausoleums to steal the dead that had been laid to rest. In return for this service the Waruichi provided their normal silk at discounted rates to Sourei clan members, the Sourei were allowed to keep any valuables found on the corpses and most importantly; any time the Sourei had a body from a job to get rid of that they didn't want the Daimyo or village to find out about they gave it to the Waruichi who in turn fed it to their worms. In the first ten years after the village was officially "founded" the Sourei proved themselves a valuable member of the community, single handedly ensuring large shipments of timber, limestone (for concrete), glass and other building materials were shipped and arrived at the building location of the village. It is hard to deny that had the Sourei not helped as much as they had, the construction of the village could easily have taken twice as long as it had. The Sourei soon came in handy for the first Mizukage again, as their shipping industry allowed Kirigakure to quickly place the village on good terms with the surrounding islands that were not part of Mizu no Kuni and as the Daimyo began to send missions their way, the Sourei proved to be masterful when it came to reconnaissance and assassination jobs in particular. This was particularly true during the First Shinobi War where the clan members with the bloodline ability were capable of acting like ghosts behind the enemy lines as well as juggernauts on the front lines. It was during the rules of the Second Mizukage that the Sourei began to become alienated with the village to a small degree. Much like the Waruichi, the isolationist policies began to adversely affect the Sourei's business ventures. This in turn made them less willing to provide full support for the Nidaime Mizukage's goal to essentially turn their village into a mercenary force. While they saw some profit in the idea for the village, they did not see enough for their selves to justify the lost income of their businesses. The clan's losses were extensive enough that both the Financial Head and the Military Head both agreed that he needed removed from the picture. So, a plan was devised and carried out. Immediately after a minor surgery, a Sourei clan member not affiliated with the Shinobi forces of Kirigakure paid the Nidaime Mizukage a visit. In this visit he lowered the density of his hand, placed it inside the Mizukage's stomach and resolidified the last segment of his pinky into his stomach. Normally such an act caused extreme pain, but the clan member was able to keep quiet and the Mizukage was still unconscious from the anesthesia. While small, this small amount of flesh was now fused with the Mizukage's flesh and slowly, but surely it began to mutate and destroy the cells around it, slowly spreading through his body. When the medical shinobi finally diagnosed the issue, it had already been months and the Mizukage's fate was sealed; his entire body consumed with what appeared to be cancer. It was after the death of what could be argued as the worst Mizukage in the village's history, that the Sourei's most infamous moment within the village's history came to pass. Their decision to support the Daimyo's power play. Naturally, like all aspects of the Sourei, there was two sides to this. The head of the clan, Sourei Yoshito remained on the side of Kirigakure with roughly half the clan members staying with him, while Sourei Shohei and his son Sourei Kobashi joined the side of the Daimyo's forces. In essence it was believed that with the Military Head supporting Kirigakure and the son and grandson of the Military head seen supporting the Daimyo's forces, that the Clan could survive no matter who won the war. During the entirety of the war, both sides of the Himishi clan worked to gain the trust of their side. Sourei Youshito eventually was named onto the Shinobi Council, while Sourei Shohei was named the commander of all the Daimyo's forces, with Kobashi eventually being named a front line commander. More and more the majority of the Sourei hoped for the Daimyo to win, after all he was someone much easier to manipulate than the Third Mizukage. Sadly, in the end; while their plan worked and the Sourei managed to keep half the clan on the winning side, it was the side they had hoped would lose. At the very tail end of the civil war, where the fighting became it's fiercest, the Daimyo ordered the majority of his troops to attack Kirigakure directly, against both Shohei and Kobashi's advice. This turned out to be the Daimyo's undoing as his fortress was attacked shortly after the majority of his forces left. Naturally Shohei was executed as one of the ring leaders of the Daimyo's forces. It is likely that Kobashi (the current military heir) would have been executed as well, had he not ordered the Daimyo forces under his command to stop the attack on the village and surrender to the forces of Kirigakure, even though he had a good chance of destroying most of the village with the forces at his disposal and most of Kiri's forces occupied at the Daimyo's castle. While the clan did obviously survive, many members are still met with suspicion while others are met with open arms depending on what side the individuals took during the war. By and large however the Sourei are considered as well meaning traitors, as the majority of the clan that went to the Daimyo's side had been the younger generation (the younger generation being sent due to the Daimyo being expected to win.) Only time will tell to what extent the Sourei will be trusted again, but one fact is perfectly clear. At the moment, Kirigakure no Sato still requires the services of the Sourei if they hope to bounce back from this recent civil war. Clan Hierarchy The Sourei clan, unlike many other clans operates with two heads within the clan. These two heads are the Military Head and the Financial Head. Each of these heads is capable of making decisions that fall under their particular jurisdictions without the consent of the other. However, decisions that would effectively fall under both of their domains much be debated, with the eldest clan member acting as a swing vote should neither relent to the others side of the argument. Military Head For the Military Head of the clan, his domain entails the security of the clan as a whole, its clan compound, businesses, as well as the oversight and discipline of any clan member who is part of the shinobi forces of Kirigakure no Sato. Additionally in times of war, the Military Head will act as the supreme voice of the clan with the Financial Head acting as an adviser. Financial Head As for the Financial Head, his domain entails the insurance that the clan's finances and businesses run uninterrupted. He negotiates contracts with various clients, settles worker disputes, often handles diplomatic dealings with other clans or countries. It is to help ensure the well being of the clan and the Financial Head's independence of the Military Head, that three shinobi showing the bloodline are often if not always kept from a shinobi life, where they instead utilize the clan's ability to held hand these disputes. For lack of a better term, these three act as the clan's main muscle when they can't settle matters peacefully and also act as assassins or thieves in some additional situations. Last, but not least it should be mentioned that heirs to these positions are selected by the current holder, but often do not follow bloodlines. For the Military Head, the clan member with the next highest rank within Kirigakure is often selected as the heir to the Military Head of the clan. As for the Financial Head, that heir is generally chosen from the non-shinobi population and is generally whichever clan member demonstrates the best economic prowess and diplomacy skills. Kekkei Genkai Known as Mitsudo Soujuu (Density Manipulation) amongst the clan members and those officals that have access to the information on the clan. Namely the Mizukage and those that are given permission by him. The ability is kept fairly well hidden, with most people in the village not knowing about it and those few who have fought members rarely understanding it or how it works. The bloodline actually works by manipulating the bonds that hold matter together, namely making them weaker or stronger. That is the two abilities of the Sourei, variations of controlling the EM fields. While some might mistakenly call this a nature release, it in truth only utilizes raiton by itself. It is with the clan's unrivaled manipulation of raiton that they are capable of affecting their own matter and the matter of non chakra filled materials (IE: People or chakra enhanced blades.) One ability comes from weakening the bonds connecting matter. By weakening these bonds the Sourei clan member's body or whatever object they are focusing this chakra into becomes incorporeal, gaining the unique ability to freely pass through any matter. This of course opens up a long list of possibilities for the shinobi to utilize the ability. Using this ability can allow members to escape from otherwise fatal strikes, or even better, allow them to more easily bypass enemy defenses both on a large scale and smaller scale. A member could pass through a wall around a building or even through the building in an attempt to sneak inside of it unhindered. All in all it is a useful ability, but has several drawbacks. First off is the time constraints placed upon members of the clan. At the beginning they can only change their bonds for seconds at a time and normally it is unable to be controlled. As the clan member gets more experienced and stronger with their chakra control these time limits and the control becomes better and better, members even able to change only certain body parts. There however are several other dangers when using this ability, the fact that the clan member is unable to breath while in this state and most importantly the risk that comes when moving through matter, the chance of being permanently fused with whatever they are passing through. Any flesh that is fused with foreign material becomes impossible to be saved and will actually begin to destroy the other surrounding flesh. This only happens with solids however, stone, metals, gems. When becoming corporal once more the chakra will push out liquids, gases and any solid materials smaller than a golf ball. The second ability is when the clan member strengthens the bonds that tie the matter of their bodies together. By doing this they make their bodies and what ever they pass their chakra into temporarily indestructible and increase the mass making them nearly unmovable. Clan members utilizing this become literal juggernauts. Members could be stabbed, burned, electrocuted and even if someone tried to crush them, it would be all for not. While the clan member is using this there are some risks of course, the member hitting time limits during an attack or the biggest down side being that they can not move for two reasons. First is their extreme weight and secondly that the matter making up their body is locked into place while using this. Matter staying locked into position is both what makes this technique keep the member from being harmed, but also is what makes him become locked in place. This also means that their chest can not expand their chest to breath in fresh air. Requirements To use the kekkei genkai enhanced chakra control is needed. Solidified drawbacks * Cannot Breathe. * Cannot Move. * Reset equal to time used. Incorporeal drawbacks * Cannot Breathe. * Katon Attacks Effective. * Raiton attacks Effective. * Reset equal to time used. * Will fuse with solid matter larger than a gold ball. Time Limits * Elite Jounin:90s * Jounin:60s * Sp. Jounin:45s * Chuunin:25s * Genin:10s * Student: Only Accidental Use Category:Clans Category:Kirigakure Clans Category:Mizu no Kuni Category:Kekkei Genkai